The number of players affected by the ban is relatively small, but the severity of the punishment sends an unmistakable message that match fixing will not be tolerated. Given the growing popularity of professional CS:GO, and the ballooning value of purses attached to tournaments like Katowice, it's a welcome development—and, I'd say, long overdue.The global arms trade is one of the most lucrative markets in the world, but two young gamers have discovered the virtual weapons market isn’t too shabby either.The device’s Amazon page pegs it for an October 9 release, with a price of ￡86.35. The descriptions mentions a touch pad, programmable keys and LED backlight.All about noscopes and 'nades? Check out the 15 best first-person shooters on PC.Wouter Sleijffers is the CEO of Fnatic, one of Europe’s biggest and most successful progamming teams. He also describes unchecked gambling as a problem that the industry needs to tackle. “Teenagers' gambling should be prevented,” he said. CompLexity Gaming has announced that it is returning to the CS:GO scene with a new team, "The Syndicate," whose roster includes Kory "Semphis" Friesen, one of the players on the compLexity CS:GO roster that was acquired last year by Cloud9.

Playing a competitive online game means being subjected to a certain amount of unsolicited criticism. I think you receive a bit more of it in CS:GO, though, because your dead teammates form a kind of peanut gallery who can talk to you from beyond the grave. Being the last one alive as four other players hover over your digital shoulder is a quintessential CS experience.The team remains unchanged, other than adding a dedicated coach into their roster. It's a deal that's been in the works for some time and seemed the best option for all involved, despite multiple offers. They say that this level of control is necessary to avoid "worries over on-time salary payouts, dodgy contracts, exhausting streaming demands and gear problems."Reading between the lines, it's rather easy to see how unamiacable the split from TSM must have been to result in such measures. Securing investment in new companies is not easy, even with the massive and continued growth of eSports. These folks they're dealing with might be passionate fans, but they're business people first and foremost, and they'll want to see a return on what they put in. Part of the reason it took so long for eSports to get off the ground is that isn't simple in this sector.Right now, both Xbox One and PS4 offer access to Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Twitch, Crackle, and Demand5. Xbox One adds the likes of YouTube, Blinkbox, Now TV and 4oD, while PS4 has iPlayer and BBC Sports and News. Most current exclusives are likely to be available on both machines eventually, and both Microsoft and Sony offer their own video and music apps. Wii U has Netflix, Amazon and iPlayer as well as its own modest channels.

Their efforts to improve include this 2-hour discussion with three volunteer mods that went on strike:A couple of points to note: First, according to Polygon it took three days for Grand Theft Auto 5 to hit its peak concurrent user count. And second, as we mentioned in our GTA report, the record applies only to non-Valve games, and continues to be dwarfed by them. Even so, it's undeniably impressive, and all the more so given that, as noticed by NeoGAF and captured below, Fallout 4 actually surpassed Dota 2 at one point today, and may well do the same to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. It's still a long way from their peak numbers—Dota 2 topped out at 766,000 today—but it's a heck of a start.Shortly thereafter, Valve made a post on its official Counter-Strike site which announced that four out of five ex-iBP players were now banned from Valve-sponsored events (i.e. all international majors) indefinitely. Other leagues were swift to follow with their own bans. This was the first time Valve had banned players for non-cheating related issues. But rather than clarify Valve’s role in its eSports community, the developer appeared as ambiguous as ever. Valve was now simultaneously James Naismith and the NBA—the creator of the game as well as its regulator at the professional level. It’s this former role that makes eSports fundamentally different from sports. While there are widely accepted rules to soccer, basketball and hockey at the top level of play, eSports is unique insofar as the game itself changes regularly. When a patch is released that changes a map, movement speed, or a specific weapon’s damage, it changes the game in a way that sports haven’t experienced in decades. Part of being at the top level necessitates the skill and conceptual tools to adapt to these changes.

4. Enjoy CS:GO for less than what your friends paidThought it might sound like a paltry amount, it's amplified several times due to the demand for certain cosmetic items in games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The lovely gaming couple responsible for TecAssault were enjoying a quiet evening opening weapon cases in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Then they opened one of the rarest items possible, and the husband completely loses his shit."People make hideous guns," noted Grimes. "So what do people actually want? We're the only service provider, and our taste might not match with our customers."

The logistics may not necessarily work very well, either, as Faceit may have to contend with a worldwide community that is larger than they can possibly handle. That, and they legally have no right to look for anything, and players can choose to compete somewhere else should they feel compelled to do so. Because there are many different competition networks, it’s almost a poor business decision that’s not really ground in reality. If they wanted to take a stand against cheating to help put a stop to it, there are other ways that don’t have as much of an affect on their bottom line.For Fifflaren, the answer is something very much like what DOTA 2 has already. “So this major, we had a new record in terms of viewership and the amount of people that are actually playing the game, but I think that’s eventually going to slow down. I think that’s when Valve needs to take that extra step forward and create the CS:GO version of The International.”